Phrynocephalus

Phrynocephalus
Phrynocephalus versicolor in Bayankhongor Province, Mongolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Sauria
Family:	Agamidae
Subfamily:	Agaminae
Genus:	Phrynocephalus Kaup, 1825
Species
44 species, see text

Phrynocephalus is a genus which includes 44 species of small and medium-sized agamid lizards, commonly called toadhead agamas or toad-headed agamas, that inhabit open arid and semiarid environments of Asia and Eastern Europe. The systematics of this genus are very complicated with many controversial points of view about the unclear phylogeny of this group. All representatives of this genus have adopted the so-called "sit and wait" hunting strategy and they actively use visual orientation when watching for food. In general, the ecological niche and role of Phrynocephalus species in lizard communities of arid environments of Asia are poorly studied, but seem to be similar to that of Phrynosoma, Cophosaurus, Holbrookia, Uta, and Sceloporus in the New World, as well as Moloch in Australia.

Species^[1]

• Phrynocephalus albolineatus (Zhao, 1979) – white-lined toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus arabicus (J. Anderson, 1894) – Arabian toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus arcellazzii (Bedriaga, 1909) – Central Asian toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus axillaris (Blanford, 1875)
• Phrynocephalus birulai (Tzarevsk, 1927) – Tsarewsky's toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus clarkorum (S.C. Anderson & Leviton, 1967) - Clarks' toad-headed agama
• Phrynocephalus elegans (Tzarevsk, 1927) – elegant toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus euptilopus (Alcock & Finn, 1897) – Alcock's toad-headed agama
• Phrynocephalus forsythii (J. Anderson, 1872) – Forsyth's toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus geckoides (Bedriaga, 1909) – gecko toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus golubewii (Shenbrot & Semyonov, 1990)
• Phrynocephalus guinanensis (Ji, Wang & Wang, 2009) Zootaxa
• Phrynocephalus guttatus (Gmelin, 1789) – spotted toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus helioscopus (Pallas, 1773) – sunwatcher toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus hongyuanensis (Zhao, Jiang & Huang, 1980)
• Phrynocephalus interscapularis (Lichtenstein, 1856) – Lichtenstein's toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus laungwalaensis (Prakash, 1980) – Rajasthan toad-headed agama
• Phrynocephalus luteoguttatus (Boulenger, 1887) – yellow-speckled toad-headed agama
• Phrynocephalus maculatus (J. Anderson, 1872) – blacktail toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus melanurus (Eichwald, 1831) – Saissan toad-headed agama
• Phrynocephalus moltschanowi (Nikolsky, 1913)
• Phrynocephalus mystaceus (Pallas, 1776) – secret toadhead agama

Phrynocephalus mystaceus in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia.

• Phrynocephalus nasatus (Golubev & Dunayev, 1995)
• Phrynocephalus ornatus (Boulenger, 1887) – ornate toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus parvulus (Tzarevsky, 1927) – slight toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus parvus (Bedriaga, 1909)
• Phrynocephalus persicus (De Filippi, 1863)
• Phrynocephalus przewalskii (Strauch, 1876) – Przewalski's toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus pylzowi (Bedriaga, 1909) – Pylzow's toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus raddei (Boettger, 1888)
• Phrynocephalus reticulatus (Eichwald, 1831) – reticulated toad-headed agama
• Phrynocephalus roborowskii (Bedriaga, 1909) – Roborowski's toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus rossikowi (Nikolsky, 1898) – Uzbekistan toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus salenskyi (Bedriaga, 1909) – Salensky's toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus scutellatus (Olivier, 1807) – gray toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus sogdianus (Chernov, 1959) – Tadjikistan toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus steindachneri (Bedriaga, 1909) – Steindachner's toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus strauchi (Nikolsky, 1899) – Strauch's toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus theobaldi (Blyth, 1963) – Theobald's toad-headed agama, toad mounted lizard, snow lizard
• Phrynocephalus versicolor (Strauch, 1876) – variegated toadhead agama
• Phrynocephalus vlangalii (Strauch, 1876) – Ching Hai toadhead agama

References

Further reading

"Caup [= Kaup JJ]". 1825. "Einige Bemerkungen zu Merrems Handbuch [= Some Remarks on Merrem's Handbook]". Isis von Oken 16: 589-593. (Phrynocephalus, new genus, p. 591). (in German).